5 anti-fraud tips from an ex-fraudster

By Glenn Ruffenach

With the economy still fragile and financial scams on the rise, one of the most prominent thieves of the past 50 years has some advice about preventing elder financial abuse.

Ex-forger and security expert Frank Abagnale Jr.

Does the name Frank Abagnale Jr. ring a bell? He’s the subject of the book, movie and Broadway musical “Catch Me If You Can.” (The Steven Spielberg-directed film featured Leonardo DiCaprio as Abagnale.) As a teenager in the 1960s, Abagnale, posing as different professionals, passed millions of dollars in fraudulent checks. After serving several years in prison and working with federal law-enforcement officials, he opened his own consulting business that specializes in preventing white-collar crime.

Abagnale (who stated in his testimony that “what I did 40 years ago as a teenager is 4,000 times easier to do today due to technology”) told the Senate panel that education, as opposed to increased government regulation, is “the only approach to help eliminate older fraud.” In specific, he recommended that every individual and family take five simple steps that could help cut back significantly on elder financial abuse:

– Review your credit report semi-annually

– Reconcile your bank accounts in a timely manner

– Be suspicious of any calls, e-mails or letters asking for personal information

– Don’t give out your Social Security number. Just because a form contains a space for your Social Security number doesn’t mean you have to provide it.

– Invest in a micro-cut shredder.

All sounds simple, right? But many individuals fail to take even these fundamental steps.

And the federal government itself doesn’t help. The fact that an individual’s Medicare card includes his or her Social Security number means that a worker in a medical or hospital setting “could have complete access to a senior’s Social Security number, home address, date of birth, possibly credit-card numbers, bank account, and other information,” Mr. Abagnale testified. “This threat of identity theft of seniors will not be alleviated until the Social Security number is removed from the Medicare card.”

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About Encore

Encore looks at the changing nature of retirement, from new rules and guidelines for financial security to the shifting identities, needs and priorities of people saving for and living in retirement. Our lead blogger is editor Matthew Heimer, and frequent contributors include editor Amy Hoak, writer Catey Hill, and MarketWatch columnists Elizabeth O’Brien, Robert Powell and Andrea Coombes. Encore also features regular commentary from The Wall Street Journal retirement columnists Glenn Ruffenach and Anne Tergesen and the Director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, Alicia H. Munnell.